Thank God for Bugs?

I recently read the book The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.  It is the story of Corrie’s family, Christians living in the Netherlands during World War II, who risked their lives by hiding Jews from the Nazis during the Holocaust.  Eventually, Corrie and much of her family were caught and taken to Nazi work camps themselves.  One story that stood out to me was that of Corrie and her sister, Betsy, still striving to serve and thank God in the midst of their suffering.  They had been moved to a new camp and sent to live in a filthy, overcrowded barrack with many other women.  As Corrie started to complain about the awful surroundings, Betsy quoted 1 Thesselonians 5:16 – 18 which says, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  Corrie scoffed that they didn’t have much to be thankful for, but Betsy started naming things they could thank God for, starting with the fact that the sisters had been kept together.  Corrie agreed that this was, in fact, a blessing.  Then Betsy thanked God for the visible fleas on the mats they had been given to sleep on.  At this Corrie became incredulous, but Betsy insisted that it might be a blessing in disguise.  Soon, Betsy and Corrie started leading a Bible study with the other women in their barrack using a Bible they had smuggled in.  They never knew why the guards allowed it, but they kept sharing the hope of God’s Word with their fellow prisoners.  It wasn’t until much later that Corrie realized the reason the guards never entered their barrack was that they didn’t want to catch the fleas themselves.  Her sister was right; the fleas were indeed something to be thankful for.

Being thankful when we’re going through struggles isn’t easy, but when we’re in the midst of a situation where the only thing we can control is our attitude, I’d much rather focus on the blessings in my life and the lesson the Lord might be trying to teach me through the situation.  We tend to thank God for the obvious blessings (like Corrie and her sister being kept together) but to thank God for the struggle itself, or circumstances of it (like fleas on your bedding) is a whole different story.  I often find myself relating much more to Corrie in the story above than her sister.  It’s easy to thank God for things like my family, home, and freedom in this country.  But what about the harder things that I don’t normally consider a blessing?  I don’t often find myself thankful for my singleness, but it has given me countless opportunities, like serving with the youth group at my church, going on a mission trip to Uganda, and most recently, changing careers, that may or may not have happened if I had the responsibility of a husband and children to consider.  Even now, while I wait for my funding to increase to a point that I can start my position with FCA, it’s much easier to stress about finances than consider the blessings of getting to know more people at church, being able to spend more time with my family, and having more time to spend with the Lord.  I may not understand God’s purposes in these seasons of waiting, but, I can certainly control my attitude and be thankful during this time.  And, as the popular John Waller song says, “I will serve Him while I’m waiting”.  

At the end of the day, we who have called on the Name of Jesus as our Savior are among the most blessed, because we have a certainty of eternity in Heaven.  That God would even offer us this means of a relationship with His Holy Self is more than we can comprehend.  In this season of waiting, I am finding more and more reasons to fall in love with my Savior and that, in and of itself, is proof of Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose.”